Geckos: 家守, ヤモリ

When you live in the subtropics and tropics, cute geckos hanging around are pretty common. In Okinawa, we see them a lot. In Japanese, gecko are called “yamori” ヤモリ. This comes from 2 words: ya 家, meaning “house,” and mori 守, meaning amulet or protection (same as the meaning お守り omamori, “lucky amulet,” you get at temples). So yamori actually means “house protector” or “house lucky charm”! Gecko are considered lucky in Japan, and they are thought to protect the home, so always be nice to these cute little guys when you see them.